The Harlem Renaissance: Comprehensive Study Notes
Origins and Geographic Scope of the Harlem Renaissance
Definition and Core Mediums: The Harlem Renaissance was an extraordinary flowering of African American social thought and creative expression during the 1920s. It manifested through multiple artistic mediums:
- Paintings and visual arts
- Music and composition
- Dance
- Theater and performance
- Literature, prose, and poetry
Original Nomenclature: During the era, this cultural movement was widely known as the "New Negro Movement."
Geographic Center and Sphere of Influence:
- The movement was geographically centered in the Harlem district of New York City, located on the upper portion of Manhattan Island.
- Despite its concentrated center in Harlem, the movement exerted a major cultural and intellectual influence across the entire United States and globally.
Neighborhood Context within Manhattan:
- Harlem sits north of Central Park and Morningside Heights, adjacent to East Harlem and south of Washington Heights.
- Neighboring Manhattan regions include: Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Central Park, Morningside Heights, East Harlem, Midtown West, Times Square, Garment District, Midtown East, Murray Hill, Chelsea, Gramercy, Stuyvesant Town, Greenwich Village, East Village, Soho, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Tribeca, Chinatown, and the Financial District.
Key Harlem Landmarks and Hot Spots:
- The Dunbar Apartments: W. 147th St to W. 149th St
- Sugar Hill: St. Nicholas Ave and Edgecombe Ave
- Cotton Club: W. 142nd St and Harlem River Driveway
- Savoy Ballroom: W. 140th St and W. 141st St
- Strivers' Row: W. 138th St and W. 139th St
- Pace Phonograph Corp.: W. 138th St
- Niggerati Manor: W. 137th St
- The Dark Tower: W. 136th St
- Schomburg Center: W. 135th St and E. 135th St
- Small's Paradise: W. 135th St and Seventh Ave
- St. Philip's Episcopal Church: W. 134th St
- "Jungle Alley": W. 132nd St and W. 133rd St
- Lafayette Theatre: W. 132nd St and Seventh Ave
- Connie's Inn: W. 130th St / W. 131st St and Seventh Ave
- Joplin's Boarding House: W. 133rd St and Eighth Ave
- Apollo Theatre: W. 125th St and Eighth Ave
- James Van Der Zee Studio: W. 124th St
- Mt. Morris Park: W. 123rd St to W. 124th St
The Great Migration and Historical Legacy
- Socioeconomic Drivers of the Great Migration:
- Expanding economic opportunities in Northern industrial centers triggered a massive migration of African Americans out of the rural South during the early 20th century.
- New York City, and Harlem in particular, became the primary destination for thousands of migrating families seeking employment, safety, and social mobility.
Intellectual and Civil Rights Expression:
- Urban centers like New York provided unprecedented opportunities for African Americans to explore intellectual, creative, and social freedom.
- Black writers, visual artists, and musicians intentionally deployed their creative talents as tools to combat racial prejudice, demand equal rights, and assert full citizenship.
Long-Term Historical Impact:
- Redefining Culture: The movement fundamentally redefined how both American society and the broader world perceived African American culture and intellectual life.
- Cultural Integration: It bridged cultural divides by integrating Black and White artistic spheres while establishing a modern, self-determined urban Black society.
- Foundation for Civil Rights: The Harlem Renaissance laid the indispensable cultural, political, and social groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
Literary Achievements and Poetry
- Langston Hughes (Poet, Author, and Playwright):
- Profile: Renowned for his insightful, vibrant, and realistic portrayals of Black life in America. He authored poetry, short stories, novels, and plays, playing a foundational role in shaping the artistic landscape of the 1920s.
- Stylistic Innovation: Hughes uniquely integrated the rhythmic structures and syncopation of Black musical traditions, such as jazz and blues, into formal poetic structures.
- Artistic Philosophy: Committed to telling authentic stories of his people that reflected every facet of their lived experience, including systemic oppression as well as their resilience, laughter, musical genius, and mastery of language.
Poetic Analysis: "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (1919):
- Context: Written when Hughes was seventeen years old while traveling by train across the Mississippi River.
- Musical Influence: Draws directly upon the majestic imagery, sonorous repetition, and spiritual depth of Negro spirituals rather than jazz rhythms.
- Themes: Expresses the timeless endurance and historical strength of Black people, tracing their lineage back to ancient human civilizations along the Euphrates, Congo, and Nile rivers, culminating in an optimistic vision of the Mississippi River turning golden in the sunset.
- Verbatim Text:
> I've known rivers:
> I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.
>
> My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
>
> I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
> I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
> I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
> I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
>
> I've known rivers:
> Ancient, dusky rivers.
>
> My soul has grown deep like the rivers. - Analysis Prompts:
- What is the tone or mood of this poem?
- Why was the poem written, and for what audience?
- List two details in this poem that reveal aspects of life in the United States at the time.
Poetic Analysis: "I, Too" (1920s):
- Context: Composed right before Hughes returned to the United States from Europe, after he was personally denied ship passage due to his race.
- Themes: Expresses a direct, powerful critique of racial segregation and injustice, conveying an unstoppable belief in the inevitable triumph of equality and full inclusion in the American identity.
- Verbatim Text:
> I, too, sing America.
>
> I am the darker brother.
> They send me to eat in the kitchen
> When company comes,
> But I laugh,
> And eat well,
> And grow strong.
>
> Tomorrow,
> I'll be at the table
> When company comes.
> Nobody'll dare
> Say to me,
> "Eat in the kitchen,"
> Then.
>
> Besides,
> They'll see how beautiful I am
> And be ashamed--
>
> I, too, am America. - Analysis Prompts:
- What is the tone or mood of this poem?
- Why was the poem written, and for what audience?
- List two details in this poem that reveal aspects of life in the United States at the time.
Musical Innovations and Performance Venues
"Take The A Train":
- Background: Composed by Billy Strayhorn for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. It served as a musical invitation to travel up to Harlem's Sugar Hill neighborhood via the NYC subway system.
- Verbatim Lyrics:
> You must take the A train
> To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem
> If you miss the A train
> You'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem
> Hurry, get on, now it's coming
> Listen to those rails a-humming
> All aboard, get on the A train
> Soon you will be on Sugar Hill in Harlem - Analysis Prompts:
- What is the tone or mood of this recording?
- Why was the original recording made, and for what audience?
- List two details in this sound recording that reveal aspects of life in the United States at the time.
Duke Ellington (Composer, Conductor, and Pianist):
- Contributions: A monumental jazz composer, conductor, and performer who composed over 2,000 musical pieces throughout his lifetime.
- Structural Innovation: Stood among the first jazz figures to focus extensively on formal composition and complex musical structure within jazz.
- Residency: Led the house orchestra for many years at the Cotton Club, developing and refining a signature sound that achieved global acclaim.
- The Cotton Club:
- Operations: Opened its first revue in 1923, producing two fast-paced revues per year for over 16 years.
- Performances: Features included glamorous chorus dancers, celebrated tap dancers, vaudeville acts, and comedians.
- Audience Dynamics: Attracted white audiences from all over the world to Harlem to experience high-energy Black entertainment.
- Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (Composer and Trumpeter):
- Legacy: Master trumpet player and composer widely celebrated as a founding father of jazz music.
- Reach: Appeared in 30 motion pictures and maintained an extraordinary schedule of approximately 300 concerts per year, performing for diverse audiences ranging from street children to heads of state.
- Bessie Smith (Jazz and Blues Singer):
- Significance: Iconic jazz and blues vocalist who achieved immense popularity among both Black and White audiences across the nation.
- Collaborations: Recorded extensively alongside top jazz figures of the 1920s, including trumpet master Louis Armstrong.
Visual Arts and Key Painters
- Jacob Lawrence (Painter):
- Background: Grew up in a Harlem settlement house during the height of the Harlem Renaissance. His parents moved north between 1916 and 1919 during the initial wave of the Great Migration.
- Artistic Motivation: Inspired directly by his personal youth in Harlem and the shared struggles of African Americans during the 1920s.
- The Great Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence:
- Creation: Painted during the 1940s to chronicle the historical movement and life experience of African Americans during the 1920s.
- Content: Captures intimate scenes of Harlem life alongside the harsh realities and economic struggles of Black Americans. It stands as his most famous and recognized body of work.
- Lois Mailou Jones (Painter):
- Key Artwork: Ascent from Ethiopia (1932).
- Guided Artwork Analysis Framework:
- What do you see?
- What people do you see?
- What objects do you see?
- What colors do you see?
- What actions/activities do you see?
- What questions does this painting raise in your mind?
- How does this painting relate to the Harlem Renaissance?
- Based on what you have observed, list what you may infer from this painting.